I'm getting dog walking requests left and right and to be honest, I love it. However, there are only so many dogs I can accommodate between 11-1 daily (well, 4 to be exact). I'd love to walk dogs all day but it doesn't seem there is any demand outside those hours. How do you increase your income if you're limited in this way?
Have you considered expanding your services outside of walking to include boarding, daycare, house sitting, or drop in visits? Health care and law enforcement professionals typically work odd/long hours so you may want to stop by their place of work and see if you can advertise there.
Great idea!
Have you considered walking multiple pups at the same time? If you have repeat clients and know the dogs' personalities very well, you could create a route to pick up multiple dogs by location and walk them together. It may create additional driving time, but it could be worth it if you're able to walk more dogs. Of course, you'd want to make sure to receive permission from all owners first, but it may be an option worth exploring.
Maybe you could also offer discounted rates on "non-peak" times to encourage walks outside of the 11-1 timeframe.
Regarding the flyer idea, it could be a good idea to post these in areas where people have a higher likelihood of a job that isn't a 9-5. Ex: Retail hours (@ Malls, Coffee Shops, etc) or even Hospitals. Many nurses work non-standard shifts and need dog care outside of the typical 9-5//11-1 time frame :)
Congrats on being popular in demand.
If you are being booked all the time, it is never bad to increase your rates for your service.
If you click this link to your rates section of your profile:
https://www.rover.com/account/profile/rates/ (https://www.rover.com/account/profile...)
Scroll down to the desired service, change to desire rate, scroll down and click 'Save & Continue'
Here is a link to edit your rates:
https://support.rover.com/hc/en-us/articles/202838354-How-do-I-edit-my-rates- (https://support.rover.com/hc/en-us/ar...)
Hi Ashley: I'm so happy that you are so busy! I'm also a dog walker, and yes, most clients want mid-day walks, but I have had late morning, late afternoon/evening walks as well. I have a regular late night drop-in too (that I take on "mini-walks" since spring arrived). The client needs are so different from one another depending on what hours they work. You might get 2nd shift client that wants their dog walked around the dinner hour, or like in my case, a health care professional that works a 12 hour overnight shift. Are you advertising your services anywhere? I have ordered Rover business cards, as well as yard signs (haven't put up the yard signs yet....I live in WI and we could still get one more snow storm!). I've also made my own flyer with tear off tags that I've posted at local grocery and pet food stores that have gotten me some business. From my experience, health care professionals like to talk to their co-workers about their pet sitters...
Thanks for the advice. I plan on making the flyer with tear off tags, I might hang it in my own apartment complex. I am interested in purchasing the door hangers.
I also am a walker and my walks start around 10A and end around 3P, so I walk 6-7 clients every Mon-Fri and make a nice monthly income. When I started on Rover I wish I had set my coverage area smaller so I could fit in several more walks, but it is, what it is, and I'm happy
Wow! Thanks for the trendy, unpunctuated comment, "Walt"... Please tell me what planet you live on where a few hundred bucks per week is "a nice monthly income"; I want in on that! :D
Amber .... wtf? You sound like an incredibly hateful person. From out of nowhere. Yeeesh, go somewhere with your sorry A$$
If you are in a city you could walk dogs building by building or a few dogs that live on the same block. Then move onto the next block at the next scheduled time, etc. I am in a rural suburban area. Traveling by car is the big killer as none of the communities are that close. So I limit my travel area and most of my requests have been for overnight care which I love the best! However, you may want to consider when heading out to do walks picking up your daycare pups and bring them home with you. When its time to walk pups in the afternoon take your daycare pups with you and then drop them off to their pet parents. Adjust the price to now include a pick up and drop off for daycare. Its worth experimenting to see if it worthwhile. Im happy for you that you are getting those requests!!